Notes: Patricia: Daniels, Snacks ‘true professionals’ who will be ready Week 1

Despite missing a solid chunk of practice time this offseason, Matt Patricia isn’t concerned that two of his top players will be ready to go in a few weeks.

Mike Daniels and Damon “Snacks” Harrison are both 30 years old, both eight-year league veterans, and both expected to lead the Lions defensive line this season. But both will agree that they’ve got a ways to go to get to where they need to be, according to Matt Patricia.

“There’s a lot of reps missed there that both of them are trying to do the best they can,” he told reporters Monday afternoon.

Harrison was taken off the Non-Football Injury (NFI) list on Aug. 15 and returned to practice in joint sessions with the Houston Texans. It was unclear if he was injured or it was a conditioning issue, but the defensive tackle finally began practicing with the team after sitting out of minicamp and Organized Team Activities.

Daniels suffered a season-ending foot injury last year and there was concern that he’d be ready to go for the regular season. He returned to practice Aug. 19 in pads for the first time after not being very active since signing with the Lions in late July.

Luckily, Patricia said, both are “true professionals” that are likely more critical on themselves than their coaches are, and they know what to do to get to where they should be by Week 1. Both made their preseason debuts against the Buffalo Bills on Friday—Snacks playing nine snaps and Daniels playing 12.

“I think it was great for them to be able to feel that in game and to really get a good self-assessment of where they’re at and where they need to be because they’ve obviously played in the league long enough to know, alright, what does it need to feel like Week 1,” he said, adding they’ve got to just do the best they can to get them to that point.

Exciting stuff.

On to the rest of today’s Notes:

NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger broke down T.J. Hockenson’s contributions in the third preseason game. “Good to see the tight end back involved in the Lions offense.”

• We’re number 1, we’re number 1! Deadspin’s Dom Cosentino officially declares the Lions the “most miserable NFL franchise.” He writes: “What the Lions have accomplished is truly unmatched across the NFL. God help all of you who are doomed to root for them.”

• Nick Baumgardner off to a running start at The Athletic* with this thorough film study on how Stafford is fitting into new offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell’s offense. (subscription required.)

• PFF’s Steve Palazzolo with some stats as Matthew Stafford tops the quarterbacks with the most yards on screen passes between 2014-18.

• In case you missed it last night, you can catch ‘A Lifetime of Sundays’ featuring Martha Firestone Ford and three other iconic female franchise owners on ESPN authenticated Video on Demand until Sept. 15. After that you can stream it on ESPN+.

• Great look at cornerback Amani Oruwariye’s preseason performance from The Lions Wire’s Jeff Risdon.

• Tim Twentyman of the official Lions site explains why the final week of the preseason is important with some insight from Matt Patricia.

• Another in case you missed it: Kids from Special Olympics of Michigan got some hands-on coaching from Herman Moore and Lomas Brown Jr. at the “Play Like a Lion” clinic.

• The awesome Ben Raven that recently joined MLive’s Lions beat found some Detroit players’ reactions to the shocking news of Andrew Luck’s retirement Saturday night.